Hare Krishna Friends,You are all invited to participate in the upcoming Palanquin Ratha Yatra in Campbelltown as part of the local Fisher’s Ghost Street Parade – SATURDAY 6th November 2010 – Time: 1pm.WHEN:
SATURDAY 6th November 2010
Parade starts at 1pm. (Get there early)WHERE:
Queen St, Campbelltown, New South Wales.Don’t miss this opportunity to personally pull Lord Jaganatha’s Chariot and rapidly progress in your spiritual life!Bring your family and friends along. All are welcome! Free Admission! Please forward this email to your family and friends.Fishers Ghost festival web sitePhoto from last year Share this story your way:

Free Write

I turned again at random to Canto 3, chapter 19, text 31. “Sri Maitreya continued: After thus killing the most formidable demon Hiranyaksa, the Supreme Lord Hari, the origin of the boar species, returned to His own abode, where there is always an uninterrupted festival. The Lord was praised by all the demigods, headed by Brahma.”

In this situation the Lord assumed the form of a boar to kill the demon Hiranyaksa and pick up the earth from the Garbha Ocean. Thus He became adi-sukara, the original boar. In the material world a boar or pig is considered most abominable but the adi-sukara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was not treated like an ordinary boar. Even lord Brahma and the other demigods praised the Lord’s form as a boar.

The verse confirms that the Lord appears from His own abode just to kill the demons and miscreants. The statement that the Lord returned to His own abode indicates that He has His own particular residence. Although the Lord has His particular abode He is all-pervasive. The impersonalists accepts the all-pervasive aspect but they cannot understand His localized situation in His transcendental abode where He is always engaged in transcendental pastimes. Utsava means “pleasure”. Utsava, the expression of complete happiness is always present in Vaikuntha-loka, the abode of the Lord, who is worshipable by demigods like Brahma, to say nothing of other less important entities such as human beings. (This is the same text as yesterday’s entry)

Quite a few children came to the house for Halloween evening trick or treat. Baladeva sat on the porch wearing a third eye on his forehead and flanked by two face-carved pumpkins with burning candles inside of them. I took a turn and gave out some candies also. The children wore elaborate costumes. One came as Death in a hooded black robe with no face visible, another came completely wrapped in bandages as a mummy and a girl came dressed as a cowboy. It lasted for several hours until they had a parade down the street with a fire truck followed by all the trick-or-treaters which ended at the fire house where a party was held. I was glad when it was over. No pranks were played on our home.

I had a dream I was at a kind of commencement celebration for ISKCON devotees but it was also like graduating from high school. I had an idea of how the program should go and I wanted to tell the organizers to convince then to do it my way. I heard TKG speaking/preaching over a loud speaker. I decided he was giving a class to a group of devotees. I admired that he was speaking strongly but I felt some confidence that I was immersed in Krishna conscious philosophy and could also speak well. Then I wandered off campus into town where there was a big display of paintings. I thought the paintings looked simple and nice and thought they resembled the art work I used to do only not as rough. The paintings had an effect of colored lights shining through them from the back. I asked one of the employees “How do you create the lights coming through the paintings?” My voice was very weak and he couldn’t hear me. Then I saw for myself some paintings that had lights exposed. It was an exiting atmosphere. When I woke up from the dream I thought of painting. I asked Baladeva to show me the basement space they have prepared for me to paint. It has a cork insulated floor, not a very big space but adequate. It’s not finished yet but I told him I feel ready to paint. We need more supplies, including paint.

We are reading the Govardhana section of Krsna book again. Krishna tells them that they don’t have to depend on Indra for the rain. He has to send the rain as a result of their performing their assigned duties in varnasrama. Nanda Maharaja has said that they have to pacify Indra because he sends rain and rain is so important. But Krishna countered this by saying they had nothing to do with Indra, the rains would come by their own accord according to the duties of the cowherds men.

I want to start collecting my poems from the journal so I can read them to Narayana Kavaca. He said someday he’d like to get a big collection of my poems and according to his own taste make a collection of them which I could publish in a book. I liked the idea—a selection of the best according to someone’s taste. I’ve been playing Beethoven’s string quartets while writing and it’s a nice accompaniment. The U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins often put statements in his poem that he is listening to jazz.

His Holiness Radhanath Swami will be having a Book Reading at the Busy Boys and Poets book store this Saturday, November 6th at 6PM. He will be reading excerpts from his memoir- The Journey Home. It is a Free event and books will be available for purchase in the book store for signing.

One of the great things about the Internet is that it can allow us to see and hear about people, places and things we might never normally gain access to. The rise of Internet video allows us to learn about, and be inspired by, the activities of other devotees all over the world.

The video you are about to see showcases the activities and locations of the devotees of Lord Krishna in Italia (that’s how they say it there). You will see temples with beautiful deities, prasadam restaurants, Harinam sankirtan and more. So click play and visit Italia… Ciao!

CLICK HERE to hear previews of the tracks and to check out the growing Kuli Mela video and audio selections…

In ancient Sanskrit, Kirtan is the sacred, joyful, and spontaneous congregational singing and dancing for the glorification of God. A “Bhajan Kutir” is a special place dedicated to Kirtans. “Kuli” refers to a member of a “Community.” “Mela” means “Festive Gathering.” Combined, “Kuli Mela” tranforms into “A Celebration of Community.” These Kirtans were recorded live in the KulimeLA 2009 Bhajan Kutir at the ISKCON New Dwarka Temple in Los Angeles California.

The Kuli Mela Association is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to serving an international community by supporting and encouraging its members to come together as friends in service, association and empowerment, with an emphasis on spirituality. All proceeds from the sale of this album go to Kuli Mela Association and help facilitate future gatherings and recordings. Please support us by purchasing this album!

Yesterday we had a couple of guys come out from near Athens, OH who did a site evaluation for installing a solar thermal device, which is to say a solar hot water heater. We will be putting up two flat panel collectors on our roof and a 120 gallon storage tank next to our existing hot water heater.

Food grade antifreeze will be heated in the collectors and when warmer than the water in the storage tanks will circulate through a heat exchanger in the storage tank and heat that water. When the regular hot water heater is called upon, the replacement water will be drawn from the storage tank. I will turn down the thermostat in the existing electrical hot water heater which will reduce off cycle standby losses. Because the water coming in will be preheated, it will recover much quicker so it won’t need to be as hot.

Now the hot water we use has to be mixed with cold water , so even turning it down it will still be plenty warm for our needs.

There will be a control system mounted near the storage tank. I asked if there will be a way I can monitor the temperatures in the storage tank on my computer and the guy said there was a company that was wanting to give him some expensive equipment that would do that, in exchange for which they want to be able to capture the data over the internet so that might happen at no extra cost for me.

The only hold up now is waiting for an Amish roofing crew that is coming to install a white standing seam metal roof for our house and garage. Standing seam metal roofing has a 40 year guarantee, longer than asphalt shingles but it costs a lot more also. The thing is if it is white, there is a 30% Federal Tax credit available for it. This is because white roofs reflect heat and reduce demands for energy for cooling during the hot months.

The 30% Federal Tax credit also applies to the solar water heater. IN addition there is a West Virginia state income tax credit, so I will be getting almost half the cost of the solar thermal system paid for with tax savings.

It has been years (decades?) since we earned enough to pay any income tax, but due to the upfront money we received this year for leasing our gas rights we will be paying some so this is the year to take advantage of these tax credits for us because next year we are most likely back to not earning enough for owing income taxes again.

Our water is heated by electricity which here means coal fired electricity which is about the most damaging nonrenewable energy in terms of its impact on the environment in both its extraction and in the burning processes. What to speak of the problems with gob pits and fly ash storage. So going solar will lessen our dependence on coal and help the environment.

Hopefully this will all transpire by Thanksgiving, I will update as it happens.

ISKCON.net.au is the web site of the Melbourne Hare Krishna Community, and Mahaprabhu Mandir, the ISKCON temple at 197 Danks St, Albert Park. This is probably the most dynamic web site for devotees of krishna in Australia, with new updates on a daily basis.
In the left column the web site has a host of interesting links to other location on the internet. You will find links to take you to the latest news, to audio pages, cooking, education, devotee blogs and much more.

Every day the Srimad Bhagavatam class at the Melbourne temple is recorded and posted at www.iskcon.net.au for the eternal spiritual benefit of devotees in Australia and around the world.

According to the footer message www.iskcon.net.au is 6 years old and has received 4,406,975 page views.

Transcriptions of thelectures on Srimad-Bhagavatam from Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir

Transcribed by Ananda Tirtha Prabhu

HH Bhanu Swami: So this is a very conclusive verse and we will see in the purport that Srila Prabhupada also has given us a very decisive conclusion, As we know the Srimad Bhagavatam is the final word in all spiritual literature. And what is the conclusion? The conclusion is that we should worship Krishna, no devata, and not even any other form of the Lord – just Krishna because he is svayam Bhagavan and we should not perform any other activities even though those activities maybe mentioned in the scripture. Of course we shouldn’t do the unscriptural activities but even the scriptural activities we don’t do.

So we have the activities of karma, jnana and yoga mentioned in the scriptures, even those we shouldn’t do. So sometimes we may get a little confused especially because even the Bhagavatam talks about these things and we will see in Bhagavad-gita also it takes place. For instance we have a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita and Krishna discusses jnana and karma in the first six chapters and then finally gets to bhakti in chapter seven and then He goes back to jnana again in chapters thirteen and fourteen up to eighteen again. So we may get a little confused by all of this….read full story

How greatly fortunate are Nanda Maharaja, the cowherd men and all the other inhabitants of Vrajabhumi! There is no limit to their good fortune, because the Absolute Truth, the source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has become their friend.

Hello full-fat readers. There seems to be some sort of cheesecake consciousness in the air. I received three requests for a recipe in that many days. It must be this photograph that I published a few days ago:

Another post up at the Horton Brasses Blog. This one is in the “budget remodel” series, giving you ideas how to vamp up your tired kitchen with a quick and shiny fix: new cabinet hardware! To visit the link, click here.

Make sure you share the love and pass this link on to any of your friends with ugly kitchens. Sometimes a little hint goes a long way…

3:50 A.M.

Namamrta by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:“Chanting at the time of death”

“[The priest at King Nabhi’s sacrifice to Lord Vishnu]: Dear Lord, we may not be able to remember Your name, form and qualities due to stumbling, hunger, falling down, yawning or being in a miserable diseased condition at the time of death when there is a high fever. We therefore pray unto You, O Lord, for You are very affectionate to Your devotees. Please help us remember You and utter Your holy name, attributes and activities which can dispel all the reactions of our sinful lives.”

“The real success in life is ante-narayana-smrtih—remembering the holy name, attributes, activities and form of the Lord at the time of death. Although we may be engaged in the Lord’s devotional service in the temple, material conditions are so tough and inevitable that we may forget the Lord at the time of death due to a diseased condition or mental derangement. Therefore we should pray to the Lord to be able to remember His lotus feet without fail at the time of death when we are in such a precarious condition.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.3.12, verse and purport)

If one has chanted loudly and distinctly during his life it is quite possible that even at the time of death he’ll be able to chant with faith and love. Therefore while the body is fit, one should chant the holy name of the Lord. If in a healthy condition we can think of the lotus feet of the Lord and die, it is most fortunate. In old age at the time of death, the throat sometimes becomes choked with mucus or blocked by air. At such time the sound vibration of Hare Krishna, the maha-mantra may not come out. Thus one may forget Krishna. Of course, those who are strong in Krishna consciousness cannot possibly forget Krishna at any stage because they’re accustomed to chanting Hare Krishna, especially when there is a signal from death.

According to a Bengali proverb, whatever spiritual progress one makes in life will be tested at the time of death. In Bhagavad-gita 8.6 it is also confirmed, yam yam vapi smaran bhavam… Whatever one thinks of at the time of death will determine his next body. If one can remember Krishna at death he’s immediately transferred to Goloka Vrndavana or Krishna-loka, and thus his life becomes successful. It was expressed by King Kulasekhara in his mukunda-mala-stotra that he want to give up his body while in a healthy stage, and thus he prayed to Krishna to let him die immediately while he was in good health and while his mind was sound. When Maharaja Pariksit knew he had only seven days to live, many sages gathered and gave him different advice, but when Sukadeva Gosvami arrived he gave him the direction as follows: “My dear king, if you want to be fearless in meeting your death next week (for actually everyone is afraid at the point of death), then you must immediately begin the process of hearing and chanting and remembering God.”

By the grace of the Lord if a devotee at the time of death can simply chant His holy name, then simply by chanting the maha-mantra he immediately surpasses the great ocean of the material sky and enters the spiritual sky. He never has to come back for repetition of birth and death. Srila Prabhupada writes “At that time (of death), even one who throughout his life has practiced chanting the holy name of the Lord may not be able to chant the Hare Krishna mantra very distinctly. Nevertheless, such a person receives all the benefits of chanting the holy name.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.2.49 purport)

I got up from bed at midnight this morning and began my chanting. I did not chant drowsily, but nevertheless it went very slowly. By 3:30 A.M. I had only chanted twelve rounds. I don’t know why it went so slowly. But I should not lament. I was concentrating on the accumulation of the rounds scrupulously, but they just fell short of sixteen. I will do them later and try to make them good rounds, although the early morning is the best time. The quotes from the Namamrta this morning are very sobering. The time of death will not be like a comfortable early-morning session. It may be occasioned by great difficulty. If I find it difficult chanting nowadays in good health, I can just imagine how much more difficulty it will be when I am encumbered by a situation that is forcing my soul out of the body. There is no way to avoid this. Therefore the recommended process is to practice as much as possible to chant while in a good state and pray to Krishna to allow you to chant coherently at the time of death.

King Kulasekhara prayed to be able
to die immediately while he was
healthy and his mind was entangled
in the lotus roots of the
holy name. But I am not so
brave that I can pray for
immediate death. I’m attached
to living in this body and besides,
I want more time to improve
my japa. But now is the
time to pray to the Lord that
when death does come you
will be able to chant His names.
There is great promise that the
chanting at the end can
carry you to the spiritual world
and no more returning to this
place of misery.

# 77

“Just say, ‘I am your devotee
and I like the way you rule.
I surrender to you and your
teachings. I admire disciples of yours who have
deep attachment for you. When I see it—
and it’s not always easy to detect because
some show off devotion—
I’m very attached to it.
I want to come close to it.
I want it for myself.’“Go on reciting his twenty-six qualities,
how he invited you to participate in 1966 kirtanas,
tell of the collection basket in which he
collected about $6 an evening and how
you sat with him one night and counted it and
he said “This is Laksmi-devi” and
placed his head to the basket.
And you sat up late in his room typing
while he ate his night snack of puffed rice.
You escorted him to Chambers Street
to see the immigration lawyer.
He gave you the courage to instantly give up
grass (marijuana) as soon as you met him.
He sent you to Boston with a rub on your back,
he hauled you in, reeled you in
again and again. He let you write poems even
back then and said they were good.“You made foolish arguments
on behalf of the materialists to fuel
his arguments on morning walks.
He accepted your company.
He has left you his purports, and you are studying them. He has left you a great challenge— to live every moment in dedication to Krishna. You misunderstood, failed to appreciate but it’s not too late. Here he is again, with the Lord in your heart Prabhupada and Krishna calling you, ‘Satsvarupa—you are Satsvarupa dasa— come on, do it right.’ Don’t get left behind.”

www.sdgonline.org. O Krishna, You know me
sitting down at my desk
searching for You. Yet
You are here everywhere
in everything. You have Your
all-pervasive form and
Your localized personal form
as Radha-Kalacandji
standing together in the
amorous absolute.I prefer Your personal
form, not the clock
or the glass of water,
or even my penmanship.
Not the football game,
but You two standing
before me, black
and golden, offering
me the chance to worship
You as eternal lovers.I am Your child,
You are my mother and father,
I am an assistant to
the gopis making garlands
under the instructions of
Lalita-devi. I am
Prabhupada’s permanent student,
always in need of his instruction
which he willingly gives me in
his vani expansion.I am a writer of things I
haven’t realized, but I
see the red-bottomed
toes of krishna-murti
and the healthy Tulasi manjari
that Radha extends to
You in Her right hand.
I see the jari sewn
into Your silk clothes
and the flowers strewn
on the altar.I chanted my rounds—all
twelve of them—in view of
Radha-Govinda who are dressed
in scarlet and silver
and have meaning to me.
They are representations of Your
original form in Goloka Vrndavana,
a place I have heard about
as most desirable and
I want to go there,
although the facsimile
in India throws me off.I am not a very qualified
person yet I keep Your
images in my sight
and dwell on Them
with adoration.
Maybe the day will
come when I shall
realize the actual position
of Your forms as the
cynosure of my eyes,
and I can offer You
prasadam with a simple heart.Until then, I gaze upon You
with fondness and
write with devotion.

With little more than a week left in Halifax and the Maritimes of Canada, we were trying to fit in as much book distribution and chanting as we could, weather permitting. The only other obstacle is our minds. There is usually a lot of mental anxiety that comes along with approaching a city full of people.

I begin to think, "I've been on this street many times, and it feels like I've met everyone already."

Despite our many thoughts, we push on and try to understand what it means to become selfless. Many times we are pleasantly surprised.

I was having difficulty stopping people. Still, as one man was approaching me, I thought that he must be unfavourable. I then thought it was a little harsh to pass that kind of judgment, so I decided to say something positive.

"Have a nice day."

He was an average-sized man and walked slower than most, like he had a heavy burden. His clothing looked second-hand and was dirty; maybe he was a street dweller or intoxicated. He didn't even react when I'd said something. As he trudged by, he held out his hand and wanted me to take what he had.

It was a five dollar bill. I accepted the donation and barely noticed that he kept moving.

"Thank you. Wait! Here, take this."

I handed him Sri Isopanisad. He stopped and took the book and looked at it. He looked like he was catatonic, and I could smell his mouthwash. He was silent for a bit and then thanked me twice.

As he turned to go, he resumed his pace and said thank you a third time.

This experience set my mood for the rest of the day. Why be judgemental? His gesture of kindness put my so-called sweet words to shame. To judge others is not my position. It's certainly not up to me to determine whether someone is qualified to receive the matchless gift of Krishna consciousness. Even if it were, judging someone based on external considerations is unfair. Our message helps us understand the equality of all living beings. This man, whoever he was, helped me gain some insight into this.

With little more than a week left in Halifax and the Maritimes of Canada, we were trying to fit in as much book distribution and chanting as we could, weather permitting. The only other obstacle is our minds. There is usually a lot of mental anxiety that comes along with approaching a city full of people.

I begin to think, "I've been on this street many times, and it feels like I've met everyone already."

Despite our many thoughts, we push on and try to understand what it means to become selfless. Many times we are pleasantly surprised.

I was having difficulty stopping people. Still, as one man was approaching me, I thought that he must be unfavourable. I then thought it was a little harsh to pass that kind of judgment, so I decided to say something positive.

"Have a nice day."

He was an average-sized man and walked slower than most, like he had a heavy burden. His clothing looked second-hand and was dirty; maybe he was a street dweller or intoxicated. He didn't even react when I'd said something. As he trudged by, he held out his hand and wanted me to take what he had.

It was a five dollar bill. I accepted the donation and barely noticed that he kept moving.

"Thank you. Wait! Here, take this."

I handed him Sri Isopanisad. He stopped and took the book and looked at it. He looked like he was catatonic, and I could smell his mouthwash. He was silent for a bit and then thanked me twice.

As he turned to go, he resumed his pace and said thank you a third time.

This experience set my mood for the rest of the day. Why be judgemental? His gesture of kindness put my so-called sweet words to shame. To judge others is not my position. It's certainly not up to me to determine whether someone is qualified to receive the matchless gift of Krishna consciousness. Even if it were, judging someone based on external considerations is unfair. Our message helps us understand the equality of all living beings. This man, whoever he was, helped me gain some insight into this.

In 1973, Srila Prabhupada invited the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, to come down to earth and manifest Himself in one of the main city in the world, i. e. Paris. The ceremony took place at "Rue Le Sueur" where the temple building was rented. Attracted by the prayers of Their pure devotee, Radha and Krishna, the divine couple appeared in the fascinating form of Sri Sri Radha Parisisvara

At £3 a litre, New Gokul will be selling the most expensive milk in the UK. However, demand is already outstripping supply. Hailed as a blue-print for the future of farming, the cows at the New Gokul project have been described as living in the “Hilton of farms”

In the Vishram Ghat, Mathura , everyone took a vow (Sankalpa) to complete the Parikrama they took Water of Jamuna Maiya and she was witness, recite holy Mantras and perform some rituals. After the ceremony Parikrama start at 7:00am and came back to the residence palce around 9:30am and HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami described the pastimes of Mathura Lila

Sikhi Mahiti das:Her husband, Ekanath prabhu, traveled the world for many years as one of HH Jayapataka Swami's servants. Many worldwide devotees know them and may not be aware of the present situation with his wife.

Lokanath Swami: Rutger Kortenhorst, a Sanskrit teacher in John Scottus School (JSS) in Dublin, speaks to parents on the value of teaching Sanskrit to children, based on his own experience with the language

As reported in The Washington Post on Friday: "This urgent link plays out successfully in the final numbers of Act 1, as the members of the cast move up the aisles and gather onstage, chanting the exquisite notes of "Hare Krishna." " We should get a clip of this performance. If there are any fans of musicals attending this show, would love to get a clip of them chanting the EXQUISITE notes of HARE KRISNA!Please check out link below: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/28/AR2010102807038.html?hpid=sec-artsliving

On the 31st of October Sri Sri Maha-Gaura-Nitai were installed in the Campina Grande, Brazil temple. At 1,73m, weighing in at 238kg (Nityananda) and 228kg (Gauranga), these huge marble Deities are intoxicatingly gorgeous.

Soon I’ll write more on the festival surrounding Their instalation, which included a 24 Hour Kirtan with Amala Kirtan Prabhu. Hundreds of devotees came from all over Brazil and Latin America and we had Devamrta Swami Maharaja as our special guest, in his first visit to Brazil as our GBC.

Chanting the Names of God is the recommended process for uninterrupted happiness in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy. Yet we face barriers to even start chanting or sustain chanting. Embedded within the concept of chanting is the concept of change. In order to embrace chanting as an eternal principle in our lives, we have to be ready to change the way we think, feel and desire.
Chanting cannot sustain and grow into pure vibration without a constant desire to change the way we perceive people, and its concomitant life incidents. Therefore our first step to chanting is to cultivate a mood of internal reflection based on the instructions of pure self-realized masters and the Vedas such as Bhagavad Gita. Unless we aspire to understand, digest and practically apply the words of a pure master under all trying circumstances, chanting Hare Krishna will simply be an esoteric concept or at best a facet of my religious formality.
Therefore, Mahaprabhu says, to chant without cessation requires humility of heart, tolerance of mind and universal respect, all this, without even a tiny tinge of selfishness. Universal humility, tolerance and respect can be invoked within our hearts only if we open ourselves to it and constantly correct our wrongs internally and externally and strive on changing my selfish approach towards people, and life incidents under all circumstances.
As we strive for constant internal change from selfish desires to selfless desires, our desire to chant and associate with Krishna through His names will only continue and increase.
Chanting is not another religious formality.
Chanting is my life
Chanting is my soul
I will go to any lengths to chant the Names of Sri Krishna and glorify Him in that process. This should be my prayer and my desire. This is the one eternal divine instruction reverberating within the heart of all pure masters and all pure words.
Aspire to change
Aspire to chant
Chant Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna

Eco Valley Foundation chairman Radha Krishna Dasa makes one of his 73 presentations last year on sustainable living.

The Eco-Valley Foundation and Sustainability Sciences Research Institute—a non-profit organization run by ISKCON devotees in Hungary—received an invitation from the United Nations this September 20th for the COP16 Climate Summit from November 29th to December 10th in Cancun, Mexico.

The Eco-Valley Foundation (EVF) collects and propagates knowledge about economic, environmental and social issues, and helps people to start and maintain sustainable communities.

Chairman Radha Krishna Dasa is also part of Hungary’s most successful eco-village—ISKCON’s Krishna Valley.

“We want to create a universally adoptable blueprint for living,” he says. “At the heart of this is developing the understanding that we are part of God’s creation, and not the ruler of it. Doing this will inspire us to live in harmony with our surroundings, and to embrace sustainable living.”

Radha Krishna further explains: “There should be three things in a sustainable society: a temple, a school and a place to get together. On a broader level, a temple means that there should be a goal of life that the community is all working to achieve. School doesn’t necessarily mean formal education: it refers to practical life skills such as how to grow crops, how to take care of cows, how to clean your clothes, how to cook, how to build and repair homes, etc. And a place to get together – such togetherness makes people happy, and we would like to see everyone happy.”

EVF has already been busy propagating its message on a major scale: it is affiliated with eight Hungarian universities, and has connections with two more in India and Dubai. It is currently running four scientific research programs, tutoring 32 university student dissertations, and just drew 480 participants to its annual sustainability conference at Krishna Valley—the largest of its kind in Hungary. In addition, Radha Krishna Dasa made 73 presentations around the world within the last year, speaking to university students, scholars, and professionals in India, Dubai, the USA, Sweden, and Denmark.

With the invitation to COP16, however, the Eco-Valley Foundation will get the chance to present its message to some of the world’s biggest decision-makers.

President Obama and over 180 other Heads of State attended last year’s summit, as well as many politicians and environmental and economic ministers. These are also expected to attend this year, as well as thousands of scientists, professors, governmental delegations, and NGO delegations.

“We would like to represent our ideas of simple living and high thinking to those people who can change things in the world,” says Radha Krishna. “And this is a great opportunity to show the leaders of society a liveable, replicable model, and to express our interest in getting to know them and to start working with them.”

The COP summit—the largest meeting of the Conference of the Parties, the supreme body of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change—is held once a year. COP16 is, of course, the sixteenth annual meeting—the summits have been held since before the Kyoto Protocol came into effect in 1997, establishing legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

This year’s and next year’s meetings will focus mainly on discussions about how to renew the Kyoto agreement, which is effective only until 2012. These are of major importance, since if the agreement is not renewed in 2012, countries will have free reign on greenhouse gas emissions and this could have disastrous consequences for the environment.

The two devotees nominated to attend COP16 as representatives of the Eco-Valley Foundation are EVF strategy and development director Vadim Sviridovich, from Russia, and assistant to the chairman George Kirs, from Hungary. Both are economists, while George is also a teacher.

“We have been given admittance as an observer organization, which means that they will be able to attend all the meetings and to give feedback on them in writing,” Radha Krishna says. “They can also apply to set up a separate brainstorming session or discussion that they lead during the climate summit, and have permission to set up an exhibition. Of course, we will also be able to meet and make contacts with people we would like to work with later.”

At their first ever COP meetings, the EVF representatives plan to gather information, draft a proposal, give their input in writing on the issues that are discussed, and express the importance of creating small communities.

“In the future, we would like to work with governmental officials and scientists and universities to help people make sustainable villages and towns, and to develop already existing villages and towns in a more sustainable way,” Radha Krishna says. “We want to show them a model that is a real, practical way of life.”

He concludes: “Ultimately, we would like to show the world in a scientific way that Srila Prabhupada’s teachings on how to live are sustainable and would result in a much happier world than the one we have right now. We want everyone to live a happy life, maintain themselves nicely, and go back to Godhead at the end of their life.”

…It is interesting how Lord Kapiladev is talking about liberation. Indeed Devahuti wanted to know how to become liberated. Of course as you heard in preceding classes, the liberation that Lord Kapiladev is ultimately presenting to Devahuti is simply to have the mind absorbed in the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His service. Why do the bhakti sastras talk about the other kind of liberation – so called liberation into the impersonal Brahman? You have to – Sanatan Goswami explains – you have to talk about things and present their drawbacks so that people will not get into those things. In other words rather than simply say, “No. Don’t do it.” It is better to explain impersonal liberation is like this and therefore it is not really what we should be aiming for… read full story

Srila Prabhupada departed from this world in Vrindavan dham, India, on the 14th of November 1977. One would not usually celebrate the disappearance day of a person, especially one so loved and revered as Srila Prabhupada. However, the departure of a pure Vaishnava gives cause for jubilation because he returns to his eternal service at Krishna's lotus feet in Goloka Vrindavan, the spiritual world.
"He reasons ill who says that Vaisnavas die,
When thou art living still in sound!
The Vaishnavas die to live, and living try
To spread the holy name around."
(Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur)
Although Srila Prabhupada is no longer physically with us, on the spiritual platform he is very much present. He is present in his deity form, in his books and through his instructions. His mercy is available to all those who seek it.

This year Diwali is on 5th Nov. and Govardhan Puja is on 6th Nov. 2010. Diwali or Deepaawali means a "row of lights." It is a festival of lights symbolizing the vicotry of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness. It celebrates the victory of good over evil - and the glory of light. This festival commemorates Lord Rama's return to his kingdom Ayodhya after completing his 14-year exile. It's also a time to remember Lord Krishna lifting Govardhana Hill with His little finger, to protect His devotees from torential rains sent by Indra.
The day after Deepawali is celebrated as Govadhan Puja when Mount Govardhan, near Mathura, is worshipped. Govardhan Puja, also called Annakut, is celebrated as the day Krishna defeated Indra. Lord Krishna taught people to worship nature, as mountains bring rains to earth. That was the reason to stop worshiping Indra. His was the message that we should take care of our nature. For Annakut a mountain of food is decorated symbolizing Govardhan mountain lifted by Lord Krishna.

From this we can understand how we have to be very cautious in executing our spiritual duties by observing the rules and regulations and regularly chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. If we neglect doing this, we will eventually fall down.